Let's Go, Farfetch'd!
by browntrowsers
Summary: After waking up late on her tenth birthday, Aspen is stuck with a strange bird pokémon named Farfetch'd instead of a more exciting starter pokémon. But when they stumble upon a wild Geodude on the way to Pewter City, Aspen learns that Farfetch'd is a more special pokémon than she originally thought.
1. I Choose Farfetch'd?

When Aspen slammed her way into his office, spilling his coffee and scattering a half dozen Pokéballs onto the hardwood floor, the professor couldn't help but snicker. How many times had a frantic trainer-to-be barged through this office door?

"I'm sorry I'm late," Aspen said, still in her stocking feet, her hair hanging in soggy strings in front of her face. "I was so excited that I couldn't sleep but, after I finally fell asleep, I was so tired I couldn't wake up. My mom had to dump a cup of water on my head."

The professor laughed again as he sopped up the spilled coffee with a wad of paper towels. "Looks like you could use a few of these yourself," he said, handing the girl the roll. "Take as many as you need.

"Well, first things first, happy birthday," the professor continued, smile lines crackling across his face. "I will never forget the day I turned ten years old and rushed to my professor's lab to choose my buddy pokémon." He looked up as if a distant memory had just materialized in his mind. "My whole life started that day."

"Thank you," Aspen said patting her head and nose impatiently with paper towels. "But I can't wait any longer. I know exactly which pokémon I want to choose as my buddy." She clutched her hands beneath her chin, unable to contain her excitement. "I've thought long and hard, and I choose Froakie!" She spun as she made her selection, smacking a hand into a red Rotom Pokedex floating nearby.

"Well…" the professor said. "I've got bad news, Aspen. See, another trainer came by and selected Froakie."

Aspen bit her lip and tried to shake the disappointed look off of her face. "Okay, well how about Treeko?" she said. "He's so sassy. I love him!"

A sheepish look twisted onto the professor's face. "Another trainer selected Treeko too."

"Charmander?" Tears glistened in Aspen's amber eyes.

The professor gave no answer, only shook his head. "I'm sorry you were so late, Aspen," he said. "All of my starter pokémon were adopted by other trainers earlier this morning. But I wasn't born yesterday," he added, tapping his temple, hidden by greying hair. "I have learned over the years to keep some special pokémon on reserve for such situations."

Aspen gasped. "Oh my goodness, you don't mean…" She heard sound of little feet slapping the floor somewhere behind the professor's desk, sensed scuttling movement out of the corner of her eye, and nearly squealed with delight.

The professor nodded. "That's right, the special pokémon that I would like to give you is—"

"Pikachu?!" Aspen interrupted, delirious with joy. She put her hand on the chair behind her to steady her wobbly legs.

But a look of confusion firmed on the professor's face. "What? No, not Pikachu."

Just then, a grumpy looking bird waddled out from behind the desk. It's grayish brown feathers reminded Aspen of sun-dried mud; it was ugly. A thick black brow curved over its enormous, glaring eyes and three feathers sprouted from the top of its head. It held a leek stalk under its wing.

"Far-far!" it quacked.

"Aspen, meet Farfetch'd!" the professor smiled, holding his hands out in the direction of the stout bird, who began gnawing on the stalk.

She forced a smile onto her face, but it felt stiff. "Oh," she started, but didn't know what to say next. "Wow, a Farfetch."

"Farfetch'd," the professor corrected. "He's an uncommon pokémon—very special."

"What kind of pokémon is he?" Aspen asked.

"Normal," the professor smiled. "Oh—er, flying too!"

"And what does he evolve into?"

"Nothing."

For a long moment, Aspen just stared at the glaring, gnawing bird. She eyeballed his contoured beak. _Is it a duck? _she wondered. _Why is it carrying that stalk? _She couldn't hold her disappointment back any longer, and her mouth broke into a frown. She let loose a sigh, hoping that it would absolve her of her dissatisfaction. "Okay, fine," she said. "Come on, Farfetch'd."

She stepped across the hardwood floor of the office, but the bird didn't move. Instead, it began preening its ugly feathers. Its beak found a mite there and snapped it in its beak a couple times before swallowing the smashed bug. "Fetch!" it quacked.

"Now run along, Farfetch'd," the professor said, his face flushed, as he nudged it with the side of his foot. "I am sure that Aspen will bring you back to visit me and all your friends some day soon." Startled by the nudge, the bird flapped its wings and let our a loud quack before shuffling across the room after Aspen.

"Now don't forget," the professor shouted at his protege. "Farfetch'd is your pokémon, and he will only become more special with your patience and trust—your friendship. Love him, and he will have your back for life."

But Aspen wasn't interested in her professor's advice. All she could think about was the dorky bird she was stuck with, the one grunting with each step as it waddled behind her, and how cool it would have been to ride on a Charizard's back. _Why couldn't I get a Charmander_, she thought, _or a Piplup_? _Can Farfetch'd even fly?_


	2. Route 1 to Pewter City

Aspen led her new pokémon through an emerald field behind Pallet Town. The sun weighed upon her shoulders; not even the breeze whooshing through the grass cooled her down. If the heat bothered Farfetch'd, he didn't show it. Instead, he waddled a few too many paces behind her, now carrying his stalk in his beak.

"So what moves do you know, Farfetch'd?" she asked, her voice flat and skeptical.

"Far far!" he clucked, then shouted, "Fetch!" prompting Aspen to stop and turn around. Just then, Farfetch'd's eyebrow dropped over one eye and lifted over the other. Aspen caught the glint in his gaze and felt the twinge of intimidation—but only for an instant.

"Leer?" she asked. "That's all you've got?" She tilted her head back and released a growl into the sweltering air before turning back down the road. Farfetch'd kicked over rocks and dirt lumps in the path, struggling to keep up.

In the distance, on the hill beyond a patch of trees, Aspen spotted the humble homes that made up Pewter City. She pulled off her red hat and wiped the sweat from her forehead; between the sun and the leering duck, she had a feeling that this would be a long journey, and couldn't wait to catch a new pokémon. Five pokéballs hung from her belt—ultra balls that her mom and dad had given her for her birthday. If she was careful, she'd catch a whole team of pokémon to bring into battle with Farfetch'd.

Eventually, Farfetch'd fell so far behind that that Aspen could only see his three feathers bobbing over the top of the grass.

"Come on," Aspen turned and shouted. "Keep up, Farfetch'd."

As if in response, Farfetch'd's feathers disappeared in the grass and Aspen heard his body thump on the dirt path. Suddenly, the pokémon's voice rose in fear. "Far far far!" he cried. "Far far far!" A deep, angry growl rumbled in reply. Aspen watched Farfetch'd scramble around the curve in the grass, his little duck feet clambering as quick as they could, his stalk bobbing beneath his wing.

A Geodude zoomed at a distance behind, chasing him toward Aspen. His arms bulged with gray, rocky muscle and his grimacing mug looked angrier than any picture Aspen had ever seen of the rock-type pokémon—and she had written a paper on Geodude during her pokémon studies class.

"Cool!" Aspen shouted. "Geodudes are awesome! I want to catch him!"

Aspen knew that they were often mistaken for boring old stones; he must have been sleeping on the path, and Farfetch'd must have tripped over him. That was probably why he was so angry. As she watched Farfetch'd approach, flapping his wings in panic, a realization rippled through her. _Oh no,_ she remembered. _Flying-type pokémon are extra weak against rock-type! Farfetch'd is going to get pummeled!_

Farfetch'd caught up to Aspen, then skirted around her legs to hide. He squeezed his eyes shut, his stalk wagging as he shuddered in fear. "Oh no you don't," Aspen told him, nudging him in front of her with her feet. As worried as she was for Farfetch'd's safety, she knew she had to try to catch Geodude, since she might not see another until the way down in the Rock Tunnel. "Let's do it!" she shouted. "Farfetch'd, use…er, Leer…I guess."

Farfetch'd pried open his eyes and took a deep breath. Even though he was terrified, he stood firm and confident as Geodude approached, which impressed Aspen. She watched his eyebrow crook upward, watched his beak form a self-assured smirk. The leer stopped Geodude in his tracks, but only for a moment before he used Rock Throw to pummel the bird with heavy stones; they ricocheted off his skull and beak, landed on his webbed feet, knocked Farfetch'd into the dust—and cracked his leek stalk in half.

"No!" Aspen cried, stepping back in front of her pokémon to defend him from Geodude. "Farfetch'd may not be a good fighter, and may look kind of ugly, and may have some strange habits, but he's my buddy, and I love him!" She paused, evaluating what she had just said. _But do I really love Farfetch'd?_ she wondered. _I'm not acting like it, am I? _"I do," she decided, squeezing her fists. "I love my Farfetch'd! And I'd rather pick him up and run away like a coward than let a bully beat him up!"

"Geodude!" the rock pokémon roared, then charged toward Aspen.

"Oh no, he's going to use Take Down," she said, but stood firm, just as Farfetch'd had done a moment before. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact, ready to feel Geodude's rocky fist or forehead smash against her body. _Better me than my buddy_, she thought, but wondered if the impact would break a bone—or worse. How would she explain this to her mother and father? What would the professor say?

"Far! Far far!" She heard Farfetch'd cries echoing in the furthest reaches of her perception and assumed that these were cries of pain. For an instant, she felt terrible about the way she had treated her buddy, for even letting him battle a pokémon as powerful as Geodude. But before she could fret any further, something knocked her down from behind and lifted her into the summer air, which rushed around her face.

Soft feathers tickled her legs, so she cracked open her eyes. The grassy field spread out all around her, flowed beneath her like a river as she soared through the air, and her buddy's wide wings cut through the summer sun. "Farfetch'd!" she sang, wrapping her arms around his downy neck. "You know Fly?"

"Far far!" he said, careful not to drop the broken leek stalk hanging in his mouth.

"Wahooo!" she shouted. "Okay, buddy, let's get Geodude!"

Farfetch'd bent his body against the cloudless sapphire sky, then dove toward the sea of grass, toward the winding path that cuts through it, and toward the Geodude waiting for him, his granite fists clenched in fury. Aspen squealed in excitement, her arms wrapped around Farfetch'd feathery neck, squinting as she and her buddy shot through the air like a bullet.


	3. Every Pokemon Finds Their Trainer

The professor found Aspen sitting on a wall around the fountain in the Pewter City town square. "Long time no see," he said, but his smile turned to a frown when he saw the cuts and bruises covering her skin; her knotted hair fell in tangles beneath her dusty hat, which clung to her head at an odd angle. "Oh my, what happened to you, Aspen? And where's your pokémon?"

Aspen smiled despite her split lip. "Oh, I'm fine," she said, "We're fine. Farfetch'd just went to—"

At that moment, the small brown bird backed out the door of a nearby shop with an ice cream cone in each wing. Leaves and twigs stuck out of its dirty feathers, and his beak looked even more scuffed up than Aspen's face. "Fetch fetch!" he quacked.

"Wow, don't mind if I do!" the professor said, snatching one of the ice cream cones and shoving the entire scoop in his mouth, much to the surprise of Aspen.

"Well, that was supposed to be for Farfetch'd and I to celebrate catching our first wild pokémon," Aspen grumbled. She glared at her mentor, but she was too excited to stay mad, and her sour expression quickly soften back into a smile. "We caught a Geodude!"

As the professor gulped down the scoop, pink and blue ice cream smeared all over his face and dribbled onto his lab coat. "Wonderful!" he said, "I'm so proud of you, Aspen. I just knew you and Farfetch'd would make a perfect team."

"Far far!" Farfetch'd squawked and stuck his beak into his orange ice cream. Aspen's smile widened. She still thought he was weird, and still didn't understand the leek stalk (or how he had found a new, unbroken stalk before they had even stepped foot into Pewter City), but she loved him unconditionally and would never let anything happen to him.

"You know," the professor said, "I have a theory that every pokémon eventually finds their trainer, the single person meant to nurture them for the rest of their life. Of course, it's impossible to study, but I have seen it happen again and again. It saw it when I chose my first pokemon, and I see it with you and Farfetch'd."

"Professor?" Aspen asked. "Who was your buddy when you turned ten?"

The professor didn't have to answer because, at that moment, a fuzzy yellow pokémon with scarlet cheeks hopped out from around the corner. His tall ears stuck out from beneath a red and white cap as if they were charged with static electricity. "Pika pika!" he squeaked in a high pitched voice.

"There you are, Pikachu!" the professor said. The pokémon hopped onto the professor's shoulder and hung onto his head the hat, which bore a faded green Pokemon League Expo logo. "Thank you for bringing my cap. I would lose my Pokedex if it wasn't strapped to my wrist.

"Aspen, Farfetch'd," the professor said, addressing his protege and her pokémon, "meet my buddy Pikachu. We've been through a lot together. Oh, I could tell you stores! But I have to run. Professor Oak is expecting me. See you soon!"

As the professor and his Pikachu shuffled away, Farfetch'd stuck his mangled ice cream cone in Aspen's face. "Far? Fetch-fetch?" he asked.

"No thank you," Aspen said, backing away from the cone. "You can have the rest of it. I'm okay." But when the cone lingered in front of her mouth, Aspen shrugged and licked a smooth side of the scoop. "Might as well get used to it," she said. "This probably won't be the last ice cream cone we share, will it, Farfetch'd?"

"Far! Far!" the pokémon quacked and wrapped a wing around his buddy.


End file.
